Andromeda Rising: Chapter Eight

[amberfocus]

A/N:  So, an hour later and still with the insomnia, so I thought, why not transfer over another chapter of Andromeda Rising?  After all,  a little Jack Harkness charm never hurts anyone.  A little Jack/Andromeda romance is a good thing.  Of course there's all kinds of other stuff happening.  Basically, Cassi is treated for her injury but may have a pathogen in her blood. Acheron punishes Procyon for his bungled attack. Jack and Andromeda spend a day at sea.  Previous chappies can be found by clicking on the Andromeda Rising tag.  I'm too out of it to go and hunt up the links, my lovelies.


Chapter Eight:  Of Packs and Pods

Dare materialized inside the subsystems room and with Daniel’s help the two men got Cassi inside and into the infirmary. Dare held the shirt against Cassi’s wound, her fingers having got too weak from the blood loss, while Daniel got the medical equipment ready. Like his father, Daniel was a medical doctor on Earth. Unlike his father he had gotten a degree in interspecies physiology and treatment procedures on Rigel. Not that treating his wife was that different from treating a full human being, but every bit of knowledge helped.

Daniel had washed up while the TARDIS was enroute to the subsystems room. “Okay, pull the shirt away and then go get disinfected,” he said to Dare, moving in quickly to put clamps on the torn blood vessels before carefully reattaching them with a small pen-sized device that glowed blue as it worked. The Doctor had jiggered it for him ten years ago and it had never failed him. It was similar to his sonic screwdriver in a way but only had two functions, reattaching or severing blood vessels, though in a pinch Daniel had discovered it would also cut through ¼ inch thick cable or chain link fencing.

He injected his wife with a painkiller. “She’s going to need a transfusion from the blood loss, Dare.” Meanwhile, Dare got busy rolling up his sleeves, washing his hands, and inserting a needle into his vein. He attached the tubing to a collection bag, and prepared a second needle to be inserted into Cassi’s arm when the time came.

Marsden and Teganna stood in the doorway watching as Daniel repaired the wound. Dare said, “We may need some of your blood, too, Tegan. Mars, run a test and see if you’re compatible with Cassi.”

Marsden quickly moved to do as he’d been told while Teganna remained where she was watching with wide eyes as Daniel began the process of sewing up the wound’s muscle layer, and then doing the skin. Afterwards he put the dermal regenerator over the spot on her neck and turned it on. It would take many sessions to completely mend the damage and even then she would probably always have a faint scar.

Daniel inserted the second needle into Cassi’s arm and attached it to tubing that he then fixed to the collection bag. As Dare’s blood dripped into his sister’s arm the color began to return to Cassi’s face. It seemed like forever before Dare had given as much as Daniel would allow him to give.

“She should be fine now,” Daniel reassured everyone. “I don’t think she’ll need anymore blood. She just needs rest and time.” He reached down and held the hand of his unconscious wife. Now that the crisis was over his calm, professional demeanor cracked a little and a hint of worry crossed over his face.

“Suppose you tell me exactly what happened?” Daniel asked.

“One of the pack members ambushed us and he bit Cassi.  Nearly tore her throat out.”

“You better test for pathogens, then,” said Teganna, speaking up for the first time.

“What? Why, Tegan?” Daniel asked.

“I’ve been researching all afternoon and I found some things out we didn’t know before.” She did not want to meet anyone’s eyes but especially her brother-in-law’s. Her flitting gaze finally settled on her sister’s unconscious form. She took a deep breath. “Aside form the fact that Orion pack hunters have a bite force of 4000 pounds per square inch, they also carry a recessive gene for the bultungin virus. And a carrier of that recessive gene can infect another species.”

“Bultungin?” Marsden asked, his eyes looking confused. “I saw a reference to that. It meant…but that’s impossible. There’s no such thing.”

“Mum told me that she and Dad ran into a werewolf once. Why not a werehyena virus that can infect other species?” Teganna wanted to know.

Daniel bolted across the room and grabbed up a new needle and vial, carefully inserting it into the opposite arm from the one the transfusion had used. “Cassi and I ran into a werejaguar once,” Daniel said by way of explanation. He withdrew the needle and hurried over to place the vial in the centrifuge. “It’s rare for it to cross species lines, but it has been known to happen and usually if it does, it’ll happen to humans. Especially since the original DNA splicing came from Terran creatures.”

“Hopefully Cassi’s Gallifreyan DNA will be strong enough to fight it if she is infected,” Dare said.

“Indeed,” Daniel replied, his eyes impatiently watching the clock as he waited for the centrifuge to finish its job. “Although it won’t be pretty when it does. These things never are,” he added with the voice of too much experience.

“I’m going to program Philia to meet up with Mum and Dad,” Dare said. “I’ll take Mars and Tegan with me. The Doctor can help run the tests on Cassi. He has a better laboratory on his TARDIS than either Cassi or I have.”

“Very well.” They said their good-byes.

“Get your things, kids,” Dare said before moving into the control room and setting coordinates. He had to lean on the console for a moment as a wave of dizziness passed through him. He was feeling the blood loss. Well, he’d eat and drink as soon as there was time. When Tegan and Mars appeared with their carry sacks, Dare hit the thirty minute delay button.

“Come on, through the airlock,” he said and the three of them made their way through it and into Marsden’s TARDIS. Father and son set about uncoupling the two time ships and once they were free he waited for Philia to dematerialize. Then he and Mars moved their ship into Andromeda’s room on the Megaliner.

Dare explained to Mars and Tegan what he and Cassi had discovered before she was injured. “So I guess our choices are to go down to Danzibar and see if anyone has seen Andromeda or to head to Boeotia and try to track down who owns the Conquored Goddess and then start searching for a credit trail.”

“I don’t think she’s on Danzibar, Dare,” Tegan said. “If they knew about the pack at all, they’d get as far from here as they possibly could. I think following the credit trail will be our best bet.”

“I agree,” said Mars.

“All right then, let’s get this girl programmed and on her way to Boeotia,” Dare said and the three of them began the necessary calculations and started flipping switches and levers until Marsden's TARDIS was safely on it’s way.



When Lycoctonus and Arctophonus laid the unconscious body of Procyon at the feet of Acheron, their prince was savagely disappointed. He waited several hours for the sedative to wear off and for Procyon to awaken and tell him what he had learned.

His keen hearing had heard his targets discussing the name of the space ship and the place it had been registered from, but it was the only information he had managed to gather. When the two had opened the door and caught him standing there, in surprise he had attacked the female. And he’d been incapacitated. Which meant there would be a report made and his pack would be under suspicion as soon as the medic saw the bite wound, if the woman survived the bite wound.

Normally Procyon was better than that. He was lead dog after all, second in command and also a friend. But this breach was egregious and it couldn’t go unpunished. Unfortunately the punishment was severe. If he carried it through he’d lose his best information gather. If he didn’t carry it through his pack would think him weak and someone would challenge him for leadership.

Procyon stood waiting, his head raised towards the ceiling. He knew what getting caught meant, even on an Orion liner. It was to his credit that Procyon did not flinch as Acheron tore his throat out. As the body fell to the floor he ordered, “Cisseta, clean that mess up. Arctophonus, you are lead dog now.”

Arctophonus rose and came to stand in front of his leader, baring his throat. Stepping forward Acheron bit lightly, just enough to draw blood. It was a symbolic act more than anything, the willingness to submit to the leader, but Acheron always enjoyed the taste of blood in his mouth so he always bit down just enough. Today he could barely taste the unfamiliar blood of Arctophonus with Procyon’s still filling his mouth. That disappointed him.

When the body had been disposed of he ordered the pack to make planetfall on Danzibar. From there they rented a light ship and set about tracking the trail of The Concurred Goddess.



“What do you think about renting a solar boat and heading out to Killaby Reef for some snorkeling?” Jack asked Andromeda the next morning.

“Sounds lovely,” she agreed. So she and Jack had gone down to the dock yard and rented a gorgeous solar sail boat, purchased two ready made picnic hampers for lunch and dinner, and set sail.

The wind caught the sails easily enough and they billowed wide. At the same time the sails collected solar energy and stored it in a battery to be used in the event of no wind or too much of the wrong kind of wind. The boat itself was made out of a finely carved purple wood, rubbed with something that made it gleam but also made it watertight. The reef was about three klicks out and it took them less than an hour to get there. Jack threw out the anchor.

Andromeda and Jack stripped down to their wetsuits and put on their fins and masks, eager to swim amongst the natural beauty the reef had to offer. Jack took one look at Andromeda in the figure-skimming outfit and hastily jumped over the side of the boat. He had promised himself he wouldn’t push her into anything and with the way the wetsuits clung, well; it would be obvious to her what he was thinking as he gazed at her.

She followed him a moment later, treading water and adjusting the snorkel properly. “Come on,” Jack called to her and putting his own snorkel in his mouth he submerged. The coral reef was about 10 meters ahead and it only took a few strokes to get up close. They were amazed by the bright yellow color. Abundant sea plants covered much of its surface.

Jack pointed to a small white barnacle of some sort that was opening. A red and white horizontally striped plume emerged about 30 centimeters, and then flared open like a flower blooming. They watched as an unwary fish swum into the opening, looking like a bee trying to get pollen. The opening snapped shut, snaring the fish and then the whole plume pulled itself back inside it's shell.

They swam on into a school of cobalt blue and bright yellow fish about the length of Jack’s middle finger. The fish were unafraid, swimming close enough to brush fins against their skin. Andromeda pointed up frantically. They both had to surface and spit out their snorkels and take off their masks long enough to laugh at the tickling sensation. Laughing and snorkeling definitely did not mix.

Once they got the laughter out of their systems Jack said, “Ready to go back down?” Andromeda nodded and then they adjusted their gear and went under water. This time they skimmed over the top of a school of hot pink and bright orange fish as long as Andromeda’s forearm. She felt Jack’s hand on hers and turned to see him gesturing closer to the reef.

They turned and swam in to look at the anemones and sea sponges in hues from purple and violet to greens and golds. A blue crab scuttled hurriedly across the coral and out of sight into a little cavern. Out of the corner of her eye Andromeda saw a large shadow and turned to see what had caused it. She grabbed Jack’s hand and turned him so he could see the pod of dolphins playing nearby.

They surfaced and swam in the direction of the pod. The dolphins welcomed them into the center of their ranks and a couple of the braver ones came up close and nudged them. Andromeda raised her hand to run it over the dolphin’s melon, being very careful to avoid the tender blowhole. A second dolphin came up under her free hand, batting at it. She smiled and turned to Jack who was surrounded by his own group of admirerers.

They hummed and clicked and though it was obviously a language it made little sense to her without a TARDIS nearby to help translate it. But they were somewhat telepathic and she did get the general idea of what the pod wanted.

“They want us to swim with them,” she said smiling at Jack.

“How are we to do that?” Jack asked. “They’re much faster than we are.”

Andromeda’s hand lingered above the brain of the dolphin who had clicked at her and she asked and thought the question at him. He made more noises and she picked up what they were to do.

“Get between two dolphins and grab their dorsal fins. They’ll tow us along. They’ll give a whistling sound if they’re going to dive and if we need to come up for air we’re to release our hold on one dolphin. That will give them the signal to surface,” she explained.

“How long can you hold your breath?” Jack asked.

“Four minutes,” said Andromeda. “You?”

“Only two,” Jack said ruefully. She conveyed the information to the dolphins and the pod leader clicked his understanding. “You ready?” Jack asked.

“I am.” They each took a grip on the dorsal fins of their pairs of dolphins and they began towing them quickly through the water and then they heard the whistle and drew in deep breaths.

The dives were spectacular. They could get so much deeper with dolphin help, though not deep enough to have to worry about decompression sickness if the dolphins rose too quickly.

Andromeda smiled as she saw a bed of giant oysters that were open, one with a pink pearl the size of her fist visible. Then her attention turned to some brilliantly colored scuttling creatures that gleamed at her in shades of sapphire, amethyst, ruby and emerald. She saw a disturbance in the water and realized Jack had signaled to rise to the surface.

Her pair pulled her along further. She looked up when a shadow crossed over them and saw a giant sea tortoise making its way above them. Bioluminescent plants glowed at her in shades of green and blue, hidden amongst them she could just make out fish that were of the same coloring. A manta ray swam past just under her feet and the schools of fish scattered. She signaled the dolphins to rise so she could breathe.

On the surface she took a deep breath and returned under once again. The day went on like that for a couple of hours before she and Jack made it known that they were tiring. The dolphins towed them back to their boat and Andromeda relayed their thanks for a wonderful time. They had been given a bucket of fish in case they should have a dolphin encounter and once back on board the boat they began throwing the fish out one by one to the various pod members until the bucket was empty.

They called out their good-byes and were whistled and clicked at and then the pod broke and headed further out to sea, several rising above the water in dramatic leaps and a few doing acrobatic flips as well. The sound that drifted back to them was reminiscent of laughter.

“That was the most amazing thing I’ve ever done,” said Andromeda. “What a perfect morning.” She sighed happily.

“Yeah, it was,” said Jack with a happy grin.

“I’m going to go get changed.” She hurried below deck and peeled off the wetsuit. She dried herself off and took a towel to her hair before dressing in a tank top and shorts. She emerged from below still rubbing the water out of her hair.

Jack hurried down and got dressed himself and then brought up one of the picnic hampers. They spread a blanket on the deck of the boat and dished out the food. “I’m starving,” said Andromeda.

“Me, too,” agreed Jack. “I’m always hungriest after swimming.” They piled food on their plates and quickly dug in.

“Ham sandwiches never tasted so good,” she said when they had finished everything but the dessert.

“Chocolate cream pie,” said Jack as he pulled it out.

“I don’t know about that,” said Andromeda clearly remembering the last time she ate chocolate with Jack.

“No aphrodisiac this time,” he said with a slow, even grin. “I asked.”

“That’s good.” She held out her hand for her share. She took a bite and smiled. “It’s really good.”

When they were done they packed up the mess and put it back in the hamper and Jack stored it below deck. Then he hauled up the anchor and brought the sails back up to full mast. They sailed until early evening, ate their supper and then turned the boat about and headed back to the harbor.

They walked along the promenade, Andromeda slipping her little hand into Jack’s. She felt such contentment. Her life had been stormy for the past several years and being away from her mother like this was a relief. She felt as if she were allowed to be herself for the first time. Though she did miss her brother and her father and of course, Mars.

Of course, with Jack here she didn’t miss anyone nearly as much as she might have if she’d been on her own. They paused at an overlook and stared out into the harbor at all the little solar lights that had stored power all day and were now giving off a soft glow on the boats.

“It’s beautiful here,” she told Jack. “Everything is just so beautiful.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” But he wasn’t looking out at the water. He was looking at Andromeda. He raised his hand to brush the hair back from her face and she turned into him. He raised her chin and his lips came down softly on hers. It was a slow, lingering kiss, one that took its time getting to know her mouth.

She felt Jack’s arms pulling her flush against him and she thought that she just might melt from the heat of contact. Her hands fisted the back of his shirt. Then he was letting her go and she felt bereft for a moment. “Let’s go,” he said in a low, gravelly voice. He took her hand and they walked on into the night.

Ch. 9:  http://amberfocus.livejournal.com/162786.html